Arguments against Senate Bill 469 are mounting as the Louisiana House prepares to vote on the legislation to forbid lawsuits like the one filed last summer by the Southeast Flood Protection Authority-East against 97 oil and gas companies for damage to the coast.

Ret. General Russel Honore, who brought order to New Orleans after the levee breaches during Hurricane Katrina filled 80 percent of the city with floodwaters, argued against the bill in an opinion piece this week in The New York Times.

"A final effort to restrict the authority's power to sue these industries is expected to come Thursday (May 29) before the State House of Representatives, where it has the support of the Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, and legislative allies of oil and gas. The bill has already passed the Senate. The House needs to defeat the bill," he wrote.

"That won't assure us that the oil and gas industries will fix the damage they've caused to our coast over decades. But it will give the citizens of Louisiana their day in court to stand up and say, 'We've had enough.' "

Also this week, the Bureau of Governmental Research in New Orleans sent a letter to legislators raising numerous concerns about SB 469 and calling on them to rethink the legislation.

"The public should be no worse off after legislation targeting the lawsuit is passed than it was before ... We are concerned that SB 469, by eliminating multiple rights and causes of actions, may very well permanently deprive the residents of greater New Orleans and the rest of coastal Louisiana of significant claims against the oil and gas industry and others," the letter said. The bill not only prohibits such lawsuits by the two regional flood authorities in south Louisiana, but also by parish governments and other agencies, BGR said.

The NOLA.com | Times-Picayune Editorial Board also has argued that SB 469 is bad policy and a threat to the long-term safety of the people of coastal Louisiana and should be defeated.